Victoria's Secret
by margoleadbetter
Summary: Joria: Joy/Victoria.  I'm not going to give a detailed summary as I don't want to give it away! My first real fic. Rated M just in case.
1. Blind Date

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hot in Cleveland.  
>This is my first proper fic. I will love you forever if you read andor review it.**

"Victoria, are you coming?"

"What? Oh, sure." Victoria picked up her clutch bag and attempted to pull herself together, wondering briefly if she was having a midlife crisis. No, certainly not. She was Victoria Chase, and she refused even to acknowledge her age, let alone allowing it to get one over on her.

She was hardly enjoying herself, though. Recently, she hadn't been able to summon up any enthusiasm for life, and it got quite unbearable from time to time, until she had Joy there to cheer her up. She wasn't sure when she had started thinking of Joy as her best friend, but she felt a lot closer to her than she did to Melanie these days, which made little sense, considering that they were all living together.

"Good God, who died?" Joy stopped in the doorway when she saw Victoria's expression. _Oh, just my interest in everything_, was what Victoria wanted to say, but what she actually said was "Me, the last few times we did this. Do you feel like giving that watch back?" She indicated Joy's wrist, which was _still_coated by her extremely expensive birthday present to herself, which she had been forced to give to Joy to make up for what she had done a few years back when their friends had tried to set each other up and it had all gone wrong.

"No, and if you ask me again, I might rethink my acceptance of your apology." Joy rolled her eyes and reached for her friend's arm, forcibly dragging her through the door. Something happened to Victoria then, snapping her out of her reverie and into the here and now. It was time to stop this nonsense. She was Victoria Chase, she was rich and famous, she had every reason to be happy and right now, she had a date to concentrate on.

_Joy picked at her fingernails, nervously. Victoria had better bloody not have pulled another ridiculous stunt like last time. She had begged to have another chance to set her up, saying that she wanted to prove how much she did care about Joy's friendship. It had sounded like a lot of sentimental rubbish to Joy, and she did wonder if Victoria's heartfelt plea had been lines from _The Edge of Tomorrow_, but she'd made such a dramatic scene that Joy had been forced to give in eventually._

Just as she was thinking that, a shadow fell across the table, accompanied by an attractive voice, which asked "Are you Joy?" She looked up to see a not unattractive man smiling down at her.

"_I am," she grinned back, standing up to shake his hand._

Victoria struggled to concentrate as the man Joy had set her up with talked about himself. All she'd said was "You'll love him, he's gorgeous and he's exactly like a male version of you." If this was what she seemed like to other people she was amazed that no one had killed her by now. Especially since she was living in the same house as Joy. For the first time in her laugh, she believed that it could be possible to die of boredom.

_Joy stared at her reflection, checking for food between her teeth. Victoria had really come through for her this time. The man she had set her up with was wonderful. She was having the time of her life. Yes. She was truly having a wonderful time. She was. Except the part where she felt like she wanted to cry. Oh, crap._

What the hell was wrong with her? She was having a lovely evening with an amazing guy. Why was she welling up right now? Recently, she hadn't been able to summon up any enthusiasm for anything. She should have been having the best time she'd had in months, but all she wanted to do was round up Victoria, go home and drink wine until she passed out. Oh, brilliant, she really was crying now. What larks. This was ridiculous. She'd just have to go back out there and tell him it was all off.

Victoria was considering stabbing her date with a butter knife when she saw Joy coming out of the bathroom determinedly. What was happening now? Joy walked back over to her table, but didn't sit down. She was shrugging her shoulders apologetically. He was standing up, lifting his hands, as if to say, "No harm done." Now they were shaking hands, and Joy looked like she was turning to leave. Oh, she was turning to leave. And now she was leaving. Finally, an excuse to get out of here.

"What's going on?" she asked, having made her own excuses and got the hell out of there, stopping Joy on her way into her cab.

"Oh, I don't know," Joy sighed, clambering across the seats to make room for her friend, "I just want to go home."

"So do I," Victoria collapsed into her seat, leaning her head back in relief.

"What's up with you?" Joy balked. She'd thought her choice would have been perfect for Victoria.

"Nothing. Everything. I don't know." Her friend watched her carefully. Victoria looked like Joy felt. She put her hand on her arm, and Victoria turned her head to face her, smiling weakly.

"Are you okay? You seem different. Not your usual egomanic self."

"Fine. I'm fine. Never better. I'm just tired." It was the worst acting Joy had ever seen from Victoria. What they hell was wrong with her? And what was wrong with Joy, for that matter? She blinked, trying to hold back more tears.

"God, Victoria. I haven't had a date in months. I thought I'd at least get a kiss out of tonight."

"Me, too," Victoria closed her eyes, sinking even further back into her seat. "Still," she added, opening her eyes and brightening slightly, "We could always kiss each other if we get desperate enough." Joy laughed, grateful that despite her pathetic excuse for a love life, she had the best friends in the world. As she was thinking this, the cab pulled into their driveway, and the two women got out, thanking and paying the driver. Once they had sent him on his way, Joy put her arm around Victoria, with a cry of "Come on! Let's get rat-arsed!"


	2. Promise

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Hot in Cleveland**_**.  
>I will love you for ever if you read andor review this.**

Several glasses of wine later, Joy stood over the kitchen sink, wondering if she was going to throw up. Melanie, who hadn't wanted to be involved in the blind date because, in her words "Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't know if I'd live through another one like the last one!" had long since gone to bed, and Elka had fallen asleep in her chair. Victoria and Joy had been working their way through yet another bottle when Joy had had to come in here for some water. 

"Are you okay?" Joy turned to see Victoria standing in the doorway, still clutching her wineglass. Joy couldn't help smiling, despite herself as Victoria reached for her hand and pulled her back into the front room. 

"I don't know yet. I might need more wine."

The two of them half-sat, half-fell onto the sofa, not letting go of each other's hands, seeming to forget themselves for a while. Eventually, Joy looked up, a sly thought having occurred to her. 

"Victoria?" 

"What?" 

"You still owe me a kiss."

The two of them burst into hysterical laughter. Perhaps they were more drunk than they'd thought. As Victoria regained control of herself, she put her free hand on Joy's shoulder. As Joy looked up, she saw something in her eyes that she hadn't seen in a long time. _When had Victoria stopped enjoying life?_ She wondered, idly. And then, as they continued to watch each other, she felt something else that she had almost forgotten existed. But it couldn't be what she thought it was. That was…well, it was impossible. 

"For all your sarcasm, you can be quite adorable, Scroggs," Victoria smiled. She hadn't let go of her shoulder yet. Why? 

"Yeah, you too," Joy breathed, "When you're not being a vain, self-obsessed bitch." She waited for her friend to laugh, but she didn't. 

"Do you want your kiss or not?"

Joy opened her mouth to say "No," but she couldn't quite seem to get it out. When had Victoria's face got so close to hers? And there was that feeling again, the one that she refused to acknowledge, stronger than before. The truth was that for some reason, she did want the kiss. Had she lost track of how much she'd lost to drink? She was drunk enough now to think _what the hell?_, murmur "Oh, go on then," and press her lips to her friend's.


	3. Forever

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Hot in Cleveland**_**.  
>I will love you forever if you read andor review this.  
><strong>  
>The next morning, Victoria sipped her coffee and pretended not to be watching Joy. She wasn't sure how long she'd been kissing her for last night before Elka had woken up and caught them. Then they'd laughed it off, and she'd pretended to be a lot more drunk than she really had been. Joy had done the same, although she wasn't sure if she really had been that drunk or not. After that, they'd all gone to bed, and she'd fallen asleep almost instantly.<p>

Now she was standing at the coffee machine in her tiny bathrobe, refilling her cup and not looking any different than she had done yesterday morning. And she wasn't any different, of course. Nothing was. Except for the fact that she wasn't just her best friend any more. She was her best friend that she'd spent a substantial amount of time kissing last night, and who knew where it would have led if Elka hadn't woken up when she had?

Joy turned now, picking up her full coffee cup and sitting down in the seat across from Victoria. She did have lovely eyes. Victoria shook herself. What did she care about Joy's eyes? She didn't was the answer. Joy was her best friend and nothing else and that was that.

Joy stirred her coffee, avoiding Victoria's eye. She'd never admit it, but she couldn't help wondering about last night. What had it meant? Where had it been going? And, most importantly, what was going to happen next?

_Nothing, that's what's going to happen next,_ she told herself, because it had just been a drunken kiss between two very straight women. Victoria had been married to about a thousand men, for crying out loud. She'd probably forgotten about it already, and that was what Joy would do too. Yep. She'd forgotten it already. She hadn't, though.

That evening, Victoria, Joy, Melanie and Elka sat around the TV. Melanie was forcing them all to watch one of her romantic comedies. As usual on these occasions, Joy had been cracking up at every cheesy line. Victoria looked at her now, trying not to snort. As she caught her eye, Victoria raised an eyebrow, and her friend seemed to sober up remarkably quickly. She hadn't realised until that point that she was beaming. _You can't be serious_, she told herself, heading for the kitchen on the pretext of going outside for some fresh air.

Fifteen minutes later, Melanie looked around. "Is Victoria still out back?" Yes, she was. Joy was only too aware of that fact, but she wasn't prepared to say so: "I suppose she must be," she attempted a casual shrug.

"Should one of us go after her?" Melanie looked concerned.

"No, there's no need for anything like that, I'm sure." Joy tried to convince Melanie that it wasn't worth interrupting her movie for.

"But she might be upset!" Melanie protested.

"Fine, you go after her then!"

"But this is my favourite part!" Melanie indicated the TV screen pathetically.

"Elka?" Joy knew she was clutching at straws, but she was going to give it her best shot.

"You're the ones who're her friends. I just live here!" Elka shot back.

"Well, you're as charming as bloody ever!" Joy snapped, admitting defeat and getting up to go.

Victoria didn't bother to look when she heard the footsteps on the path behind her. She'd known one of them would come out to get her eventually. She hoped it was Joy. No, she didn't.

"Are you alright?" Oh no. It _was_ Joy. And her voice sounded far better than Melanie's or Elka's would have done. She didn't turn around.

"Victoria?" Joy put her hand on her arm. Victoria jumped. She hadn't been expecting to feel those kinds of sparks. Thinking Victoria was flinching away from her, Joy pleaded "Please talk to me, Victoria, I might die if you didn't." Oh, fantastic. Joy had had to choose this moment to get sentimental. Victoria sighed. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Then, finally, she turned, smiling ruefully, and inclined her head. Joy stepped up to her obediently, and when Victoria put her arm around her, she leaned her head on her shoulder.

"What's Cleveland done to us, Joy?" She'd meant to say it out loud, but it had barely come out as a whisper.

"I don't know." Joy returned, sounding close to tears. Joy never cried. Cleveland really was magical. Or just plain creepy. She never could work out which.

"Can we just stay here forever?" Although the idea was pretty tempting to Victoria too, she wanted to say "No" to preserve her pride. But Joy had sounded like she really might burst into tears if she did that, so she just muttered "If that's what you want." Oh, crap. She hadn't meant for her voice to shake like that.

"It is." Joy tightened her grip around Victoria's waist, sending more sparks down her spine. The next thing she knew, her lips were brushing Joy's cheek. Screw it. She'd never let anything stop her from doing what she'd wanted to do before, and she was damned if she was going to start now.

Joy turned her head, and then they were kissing again. Victoria might have been the one to start it this time, but she couldn't be sure._  
><em>


	4. Needs

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hot in Cleveland.**  
><strong>I will love you forever if you read andor review this.**

Quite a lot later, Victoria pulled away. Joy leaned back in, but Victoria put a finger on her lips: "Melanie and Elka will be getting suspicious." Joy didn't want to admit it, but she was right. They'd have trouble convincing the others that Victoria had been upset and Joy had been comforting her for all this time as it was. She wanted to ask where they'd go from here, but Victoria was already on her way through the door.

As they arrived back in the front room, Melanie and Elka were chatting with the TV turned off.

"What happened to your film?"

"It finished already. Are you okay, Victoria?"  
><em><br>Your guess is as good as mine, darling. _"Fine." She flopped into her seat. There was no point thinking of an excuse. Melanie dropped it, as Victoria had known she would.

"Well, if you haven't got any more pathetic, lovey dovey crap to force on me, Melanie, I think I'll call it a night." Joy made for the stairs, not even having bothered to sit down. Victoria was tired too, but she _had_sat down, and getting up again instantly because Joy had gone might seem like odd behaviour, even for her.

As Joy sat down on her bed, she could feel herself shaking. She wouldn't be able to sleep for a long time. In fact, she might throw up at any moment. Was there something seriously wrong with her? Was she sick? Or could it be that thing that she didn't want to accept the possibility of? No. No, because it wasn't just her not wanting to accept it, it really wasn't possible. Was it? Of course it wasn't. She still felt sick, though. She'd never get to sleep if she didn't even have the chance to speak to Victoria first.

Having finally decided that she'd left it long enough following Joy's departure to go to bed herself, Victoria pushed her door shut behind her, closing her eyes as she leaned against it. When she opened them again, she saw the last thing she'd been expecting to see.

"What the hell are you doing?" She raised her eyebrows at Joy, who shifted uncomfortably in her position on the edge of Victoria's bed, clearly waiting for her.

"I think we need to talk,"

"No, we don't. I don't know what you need, but what I need is for you to get out of my room so I can go to sleep in peace." Joy looked stung. Victoria stared hard at the floor, trying to resist the urge to reassure her, make her feel better, kiss her again.

"What does all this mean, Victoria?" Part of her wanted to say that it didn't mean anything and throw her out of her room. But the rest of her wanted to do the opposite. So what she ended up doing was sitting on the bed beside her, flinging her arms ceilingwards and wondering if it would really be so bad if she ran her fingers through her hair.

"I didn't mean to make you mad." Why did she have to keep doing that? How dare she make Victoria Chase feel guilty? _Oh, who am I kidding? _

"You didn't. I was glad to see you." She told her flatly.

"Would you be glad if I kissed you again?" Victoria looked away.

"Probably. But that doesn't mean you should."

"What should I do?"

"You should go to your own room and go to sleep."

"That's not what I want to do." The look in her eyes was so sincere that it would have melted an ice maiden's heart. And so Victoria found herself inclining her head again, and telling her "It's not what I want you to do, either." As they kissed for the third time, a small voice in Victoria's head asked her what she thought she was doing. And a much bigger one shouted back "I don't care!"

Joy was shifting her body closer to Victoria's, gently running her hand up her leg. As she felt a thrill, Victoria pulled her lips from Joy's, kissing her cheek, her neck, her shoulder. Joy's hand was on her back now, and Victoria wrapped her own arms around the woman she'd thought was her best friend, pushing her face into the shoulder she'd just kissed as Joy pecked the top of her head. This was crazy.

"I can't do this, Joy." She didn't have to ask what it was that she couldn't do. Joy knew that Victoria didn't understand what they were doing any better than she did. As Victoria looked up into her eyes again, she lifted her hands to cup her face.

"Promise me something?" Victoria smiled. But she still managed to look completely unhappy. Joy had never seen a more mirthless smile. And she'd grown up in shook her head. No. She couldn't promise anything. And as Joy got up to leave, she felt as if she'd just completely shot herself in the foot. But it wasn't as bad as it would have been if she hadn't stopped. Or worse still, if she'd made any promises she couldn't keep. That was what she was going to keep telling herself, at any rate.


	5. Evasion

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Hot in Cleveland_.**  
><strong>Thanks so much for the lovely reviews.<strong>  
><strong>Will love you forever if you read andor review.**

For the next few days, Victoria avoided Joy like the plague. She just needed some time apart from her, to regain control of the situation. She just wanted everything to be as easy as it had been when they'd just been friends. Which they still were, of course. But, in those few moments when she was really honest with herself, she knew that it had been easier than ever when they'd been making out. It was only when she started thinking that it got complicated. Which was why she wasn't going to think about it. Or Joy. She had her career to focus on. She was shooting a new commercial in a few days, and she hadn't even had the chance to look at the script yet. She wasn't going to let Joy waste any more of her valuable time. Then, maybe she'd be able to make her life good again.

Joy glared at her reflection, trying to give herself a serious lecture but failing miserably. Victoria had barely spoken to her since they'd had that "conversation" in her bedroom, but she was resolved that she was not going to let that bother her. It had just been one of those things that happen in every heterosexual woman's life, when she wonders if the close female relationships she has could ever be anything more than friendly. And now it had finished, and she was going to get back to her lifelong search for a boyfriend. Starting with her date. She'd met a guy this morning and arranged to meet him for drinks at the end of the week. And that was great. And she would be excited for it. Eventually. She was probably just too nervous to be excited right now.

Melanie sat in the kitchen, wondering, not for the first time recently, what was going on between Joy and Victoria. Joy was staring at a magazine, but unless she read incredibly slowly, she couldn't be reading it at all: she'd been staring at the same page for at least fifteen minutes. Meanwhile, Victoria had left the room as soon as Joy had come into it, muttering something about going over her lines again. That was all she'd been doing for days; Melanie was surprised that she wasn't sick of them by now.

When Elka arrived, Melanie breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, someone halfway normal to talk to. Then she checked herself. The world must have gone crazy when_ Elka_ was most sane person she could find.

"Aren't you going to wear a skirt with that?" Elka indicated Joy's, admittedly skimpy, outfit.

"Oh, piss off, Elka!" Joy snapped, before storming out of the room.

"What's her problem?" Elka stared after her. Usually, Joy wouldn't even have blinked at a comment like that from her. Melanie didn't get it either, but her loyalty to Joy forced her to say "It would probably have helped if you'd at least sat down before verbally attacking her, Elka."

"Maybe," Elka sat down now, "But it's never upset her that much before."

"I know. I don't know what's going on with her and Victoria lately. Have you noticed anything strange about the way they've been acting?" Elka shook her head, but Melanie sensed that there was something she wasn't telling her.

"Elka, this is serious. I'm worried about them both." But Elka just shrugged, and so Melanie realised that if she wanted to know what all this was about, she was going to have to find out for herself.


	6. Stains

**Disclaimer: I don't own ****Hot in Cleveland****.  
>I was gonna wait until tomorrow to upload this chapter but famouscliche asked for more. So this is just for you, Brooke!<br>Will love you forever if you read and/or review.**

Joy sipped her drink, trying not to acknowledge that she was getting a remarkable sense of déjà vu, or that this was because the date she was on now was strangely reminiscent of the blind one she'd been on the other day. She grinned and nodded as she listened to her date's story, which was not unentertaining. The trouble was, she didn't care. All she could think of was how much she missed Victoria. She'd continued to evade her until today, when she'd buggered off to shoot her poxy advert, which she seemed to be more interested in than she was in her friends at the moment.

As the anecdote came to an end, she laughed politely, knowing that she was probably expected to come up with something equally witty to say. She searched her mind for about two seconds, before deciding that that would require far too much effort. She simply couldn't be bothered. And so she fell back on the thing she always did in these situations. She excused herself and headed for the bathroom.

Once there, she reapplied her lipstick and came up with a plan. As she turned to go, she stopped herself. She could not go through with this ridiculous plan. It was just plain stupid. And then she realised that she didn't care about that either. She was going to do it anyway.

As she got back to her seat, she picked up her drink. As she did, she accidentally on purpose threw it over her date. Only somehow, she ended up pouring more of it over herself than she did on him.

"Shit."

"Oh, man, are you okay?" He dabbed at her top with his napkin, but it was no good.

"I'll have to go home and change." She got up.

"Great. I'll come with you."

"If you don't mind, I'd rather just go alone."

"Oh, okay. Well…I'll call you?" He looked offended, and she still didn't care. She smiled and nodded and pretended to be oblivious to his discomfort. All she wanted was to see Victoria. Or, failing that, be alone, and she couldn't care less about anything else. The world could go fuck itself.  
><em><br>_Victoria lay on the couch, not bothering to try to fix her makeup when the tears started to roll down her cheeks. She'd been completely screwed over by everyone, and the only person she wanted had gone out with a man. Typical.

The door opened and the person in question walked in, looking furious and covered in wine. She froze when she saw Victoria.

"What the hell are you doing back?"

"I never left. I was on my way to the airport when I got a call to say my job got cancelled.

"Oh my god, why?" Joy came to sit beside her.

"They fired me. Apparently someone _younger _and _more famous_ came along." She was crying again. Brilliant.

"Is Melanie here?" 

"No."

"Elka?"

"No. No one's here. Anyway, how did you end up mistaking your shirt for your wineglass?" Joy just looked at her. 

"Do you really want to know?" Victoria nodded, and so Joy launched into the whole humiliating story, not even leaving out the part about how much she'd wanted her there. 

"All I wanted was to see you. I didn't give a shit about anything else…I really missed you." This was doing anything to stem the flow of the tears. She couldn't even summon up any words once Joy had finished. She just held out her arms and Joy fell into them, carefully trying to avoid getting any of the wine on her. She was exhausted, but she felt better than she had done in days. She cupped Victoria's face in the same way she had done the other night, longing to stop her crying.

"Please don't cry."Victoria had never heard her use that voice before. Joy gently dabbed at her tears before putting her lips to her neck. As Victoria's heart flipped in her chest, she closed her eyes. Joy stopped and she opened her eyes again, to see Joy watching her expectantly.

"Victoria, I…I meant it before. That date was the worst time I've ever had in my life. I just wanted to be on a date with you." Victoria shook her head. 

"Just shut up and kiss me." And so she did, and this time, neither of them had the strength of mind to stop it before it got out of hand. Joy pushed Victoria against the back of the sofa, locking her arms around her neck. Victoria ran her hands up her back. As they came up for air, Victoria breathed "You should really get out of that shirt." As Joy obliged, she added "If you don't wash it now, you'll never get the stains out."

"Bugger the stains," she replied, kissing her again. Seconds later, the sound of a car pulling into the driveway interrupted them. 

"Oh, bloody hell, it's Melanie!" 

"Calm down. Just take your shirt and go wait in my room." (The "again" was implied. But Joy didn't have time to dwell on it, so she just grabbed her discarded shirt and ran for the stairs.) Victoria aimed for a casual air as Melanie came through the door.

"Victoria! What are you doing here?"

"My job got cancelled. Where have you been?"

"Just out for dinner with Elka. I'm sorry about your job." Victoria shrugged.

"I'm over it." Melanie hesitated in the doorway, before carefully planting herself on the sofa beside her.

"Victoria, can I talk to you?"

"Of course. But do you mind if we leave it until the morning?" She knew Joy was up there waiting for her, and if she let herself get distracted now, she might chicken out. Melanie paused, before nodding "Sure." So Victoria said goodnight and headed for her room.


	7. Gorgeous

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Hot in Cleveland**_**.  
>Again, thanks so much for the lovely reviews I've had so far. I meant it, I love you guys.<br>As ever, I will love you forever if you read and/or review.**

Upstairs, Victoria closed and locked her bedroom door carefully behind her. Then she and Joy stared at each other for about three seconds before closing the foot of space between them, hugging each other tightly. Then Victoria led Joy over to the bed, sliding across to make room for her. Once she was settled, Victoria kissed her softly on the lips before planting kisses from the corner of her mouth to her neck to her chest to her torso to her navel and back again. Joy tried hard not to gasp. Her heart was beating out of control. When she reached her lips for the second time, Joy kissed her back forcefully, pressing up against her until they were both sitting, reaching for her top and pulling it off as Victoria lifted her arms. As Joy pushed her down into the sheets, Victoria's stomach fizzed with excitement as she went to unzip her pants, and they continued undressing each other until there were no clothes left to take off. As she ran her eyes over the woman gazing up at her, Victoria's heart skipped a beat. 

"God, you're gorgeous," she breathed. Joy grinned. 

"Just shut up and kiss me." And so she did, and then she did a lot more than that, and as the night when on, Joy only seemed to become more gorgeous to her.


	8. Ache

Disclaimer: I don't own _Hot in Cleveland_.  
>Will love you forever if you read andor review.

Joy woke up in Victoria's arms. She could feel her breath on her neck and upper back, but it didn't irritate her the way it usually would have done. She knew Victoria had woken up when her arms tightened around her and her lips brushed her shoulder. Joy smiled. She hadn't woken up feeling this good in a long time. Her bed had been feeling increasingly empty as the days went by and she continued to be the only one in it. The two of them lay in contented silence for a while, until Joy steeled herself to ask the question that had been running through her mind.

"Victoria?" 

"Hmm?" she was still half asleep.

"What are we?"

"Well, I'm an Emmy award winning actress, and you're L.A.'s leading eyebrow expert," she replied, deliberately misunderstanding the question.

"That's not what I meant."

"I know," she sighed, "But I don't have an answer for the question you were really asking."

"Are we a coup-" 

"No. We're not anything, Joy. Just forget it." Victoria cut her off. She felt awful afterwards, but she'd had no choice. She couldn't afford to say anything else. The sex-tape idea would have been one thing; dating a woman would be quite another.

"No. I won't drop it," Joy turned now, wrenching herself free from Victoria's embrace, to face her, "We've just spent the night together, Victoria. We must be something, even if it's something like friends with benefits, or, you know, friends who are closer than most friends, or…I don't know, but we're not bloody not anything!" It made her feel like crying, but Victoria knew that nothing she could say or do now would help the situation. Except…no. No except. She had to do what she had to do. She rolled over on to her back, and told the ceiling "I still don't have an answer for you, Joy."

"What, so that's it? You're not even going to bother to _try_ to think of one? Do I mean nothing to you at all?" Oh, this was dreadful. Victoria could hear Joy getting angrier with every word, but there was still nothing she could do about it, though she wished there could be. So she closed her eyes, refusing to respond to her outburst.

"I can't believe you. Was shagging me last night just something to make you feel better about getting fired? There are no men around so I'll just sleep with Joy instead because her feelings don't matter all that matters is me, Victoria Chase, the famous actress with the fucking cancelled daytime soap and the fucking Emmy, which by the way, I never fucking shut up about!" With these final words, she leapt up out of the bed and gathered her scattered clothes from the floor, pulling them on hastily and storming from the room. Victoria wanted to go after her, but she didn't. She was frozen to the bed. She didn't fight the tears when they came, which they did, very quickly. Her heart ached for Joy to be back there beside her, but she couldn't let that happen, no matter how much she might want to. Which, although she probably wouldn't even have admitted to herself, was a lot.


	9. Caught

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Hot in Cleveland**_**.  
>Will love you forever if you read andor review.  
>And I'm sorry if the reference to the <strong>_**Observer**_** is inaccurate, I don't know anything about US newspapers so I had a wild guess.**

Joy felt like killing someone, but instead she showered, got dressed and went to get coffee. For once, she was the first one in the kitchen, but Melanie was quick to follow, breezing in to see her friend bent over her drink, glaring at the table.

"Hey," she offered, sensing that Joy wasn't in a particularly chatty mood. She grunted in response.

"You okay?"

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm wonderful." Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

Melanie had encountered Joy in these moods before. She didn't get them very often, but when she did, it was best just to avoid her until she was normal again, so she decided that she'd save her interrogation for later, because she didn't really feel like being killed in the kitchen before she'd even had any breakfast. Soon afterwards, Joy went out, muttering something Melanie didn't quite catch.

Quite a long time later, Victoria pushed open the door to the kitchen, where Melanie sat at the table. She wanted to ask where Joy was, but would that be too suspicious? Oh, crap. She was losing it. She might as well get it over with so that she wouldn't be on edge the whole time.

"Where's Joy?"

"She went out," Melanie glanced up for her magazine to smile at Victoria. _Thank God_. Victoria crossed to the coffee machine and poured herself a cup, shakily. She would not cry again. She focused on her coffee cup, determined to distract herself.

"Victoria?"

"What?" she jumped a mile in the air, knocking over her drink as she did.

"Did I startle you?" Melanie started to laugh, then quickly stopped when she saw her friend's expression.

"I was just wondering if we could have this talk now?" Oh, no. She'd forgotten about that. As, she turned away from Melanie, wiping the counter where she'd spilt her coffee, putting the cup in the sink and pouring herself a fresh one, she replied "Sure." Melanie watched her, waiting for her to turn around and sit down, but Victoria was taking an abnormally long time, so in the end she asked her back "It's just that you and Joy have been acting kind of oddly lately…"

"No, we haven't." Victoria snapped instinctively, and then cursed herself. That just made it look like she was trying to hide something. Which she was. No, she wasn't, because there was nothing to hide.

"Yes, you have, Victoria," Oh, this was brilliant. Now she was being sympathetic. She picked up her cup and sat down across from Melanie.

Melanie persisted: "You haven't been in the same room as her for days, she's gone from being grumpy to being downright venomous…is something wrong?"

_Yes_. "No."

"You didn't have a fight or something?"

_Yes_. "No."

_It's lucky I'm such a good actress_. She almost laughed at the irony. As Melanie studied her, wondering if there was anything she could do to help her friends if they didn't let her, Elka burst in, carrying a newspaper.

"Have you seen this morning's _Observer_?" Not waiting for an answer, she flung the newspaper onto the table. Victoria froze when she saw it. Splashed across the front page, under the headline "Daytime Queen Caught in Lesbian Clinch" was a huge, blown up photograph of herself with her tongue in Joy's mouth.


	10. Couple

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Hot in Cleveland**_**.  
>Thank you so much to everyone that's read and reviewed thus far, you're all gorgeous.<br>Will love you forever if you read and/or review.  
><strong>

A few evenings later, Victoria and Melanie sat in the front room. Victoria hung up her phone in awe.

"I can't believe it," she told her friend, "I just got another job offer!"

Melanie scoffed: "Please, like you don't know why. This is what you were hoping for, right?" Victoria was utterly nonplussed.

"What?"

"You know…with your little publicity stunt the other day?"

"My wha-oh, right…yes, of course!" Yes, it all made sense now. As soon as she'd seen the paper and Melanie and Elka had demanded to know what was going on, she'd panicked and blurted "Publicity stunt!" Joy, thank God, had gone along with the lie, although she'd taken to giving Victoria filthy looks whenever the others' backs were turned. Victoria had been pretending not to notice, and thankfully, she'd been flooded with offers of new acting jobs, which meant she could distract herself from thoughts of Joy and what she'd done and how much it hurt. Which was good. Because there was nothing to think about. It couldn't be undone. And she wouldn't want to undo it, even if she could. No. No, she wouldn't. She still wasn't sure how the paper had got hold of the picture, though. It had been taken the time when they'd kissed out back, so one of the local paps (or, actually, the _one_ local pap) must have chosen that particular night to spy on her place of residence.

Now she realised that it was because of the article that she'd got all this new work…well, that changed everything. She'd thought that she'd only go down in the estimation of the public if it ever got out, but it had had the opposite effect.

She tried to shoot an "Excuse me," in Melanie's direction, although she couldn't tell if she'd caught it or not. Or if she'd even managed to choke the words out. The next thing she knew, she was standing outside Joy's bedroom, banging on the door with all her might. Joy didn't say a word when she finally came to the door, looking adorable in her pyjamas and glasses and messy ponytail. She just leaned against the door frame, crossed her arms and glared at Victoria until she spoke. That was fine. She knew what to do.

"We're a couple."

This was enough to make even Joy blink: "What?"

"You and me. Us. We're a couple. That's what we are. That is, if…if that's what you want us to be." 

Joy raised her eyebrows. She was thawing. Good.

"Go on."

"I'm sorry. I was a bitch. I was trying to protect myself, and I ended up hurting the one person that's…" she broke off. This was the hardest part: "…that's even more important to me than myself."

That did it. Joy leapt on her and kissed her. She'd forgotten how good that felt. Or rather, she hadn't let herself remember. She kissed her back, wrapping her arms around her waist. And Joy led her into her room, gently pressing the door closed behind her.


	11. Together

Joy and Victoria sat in the limousine, gripping each other's hands. It was the next Saturday, and they had flown to L.A. for the latest big movie premiere, which Victoria had been invited to at the last minute after becoming the woman of the moment. The two of them were going to use the event to "officially" announce to the general public that they were dating. They'd agreed to continue to pretend to Melanie and Elka that it was all for the publicity, to give them the chance to warm up to the idea and the happy couple the chance to settle into their relationship.

Relationship. That was a grown up world. Joy shook herself. Of course it was a grown up word. She was a grown up. But in this particular moment, she felt like she was twelve years old and about to step onstage for the first time.

Victoria touched her arm, asking "Are you okay?"

"Oh, you know," Joy smiled, weakly. Victoria smiled back at her, looking deep into her eyes and tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear.

"There's nothing to be nervous about. You just get out of the car and smile and they'll be stunned." Joy hugged her tightly, and Victoria held her just as close, rubbing her back comfortingly. As Joy let go of her, she ran her hands down the straps of Victoria's dress, looking at her chest. Victoria bit her lip, leaned in slowly and kissed her gently, before whispering "There's no time for this now," against her lips. Joy ran a trail up Victoria's leg with her index finger. Victoria closed her eyes, using every ounce of self control she had to splutter "Joy. I mean it. We're almost there."

"Well…couldn't we just…stay in the limo…?" Victoria raised her eyebrows sardonically at this.

"Are you really that nervous that you'd try to distract me with sex in order to get out of it?" Joy grinned at her.

"It was worth a shot." As they laughed, the car turned a final corner and finally pulled to a stop.

"This is it," Victoria breathed, and as she did, Joy saw something special in her eyes. She really did get starstruck by all of this. Still, after all these years of being a star herself. And, seeing that light in Victoria's eyes, all her nerves went away. She'd be fine. She was doing this for Victoria. And she'd be there to look after her all night. A very warm feeling swelled in her chest, and as the door opened, the two of them stepped out, arm in arm, ready to face the world. Together.


	12. Explosions

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Hot in Cleveland**_**.  
>Will love you forever if you read andor review.**

Several hours later, the two of them lay tangled in each other's arms.

"Did you have a good night?" Victoria asked, tentatively. Joy felt that same warm feeling swelling in her chest, and she couldn't help beaming as she murmured "It was perfect," and kissed Victoria for what must have been the thousandth time that night, before adding "I love being with you. All the flashing lights and the fireworks and the sparks exploding inside me..." she broke off, embarrassed. Had she said too much?

"Me, too," Victoria reached for her hand under the covers.

"The explosions and everything. I never felt those so strongly before you." Joy felt another smile breaking out all over her face, until she added "Of course, I'm not exactly averse to all the jobs it's been getting me, either." Joy blinked, unsure if she'd heard correctly. She, Joy, had pushed aside her barriers and her pride and bared her soul, and all Victoria could think about was the fame? "What else is new?" yelled a voice inside her head, but she tried to ignore it. She didn't want it to be right.

"What?"

"Well, you know, a famous actress having a new relationship…especially an…unconventional one…the general public become very interested in her. My agent said I might even end up on a news show next week at this rate. As the interviewee."

"Right," Joy was having trouble breathing, but she had to get it out, "So all I am to you is another way to revive your career."

"Well, that's not exactly what I said – " 

"It's exactly what you sounded like." Victoria stared at her.

"Don't be ridiculous, Joy."

"Oh, I'm being ridiculous now?"

"No, it's just…I mean…well, I told you. You're the most important person in the world to me." Joy sat up, hugging her legs to her chest.

"Well of course I bloody am, I'm the one that enables you to cling to what little fame you've ever had. I'm the one that lets you claw your way back into the lifestyle you feel you're entitled to." Joy's voice caught, as if she wanted to say more but couldn't. Victoria reached out to touch her, but Joy flinched away.

"Joy, I…I really think you're overeating."

"Oh, really? How should I react to being used?" Victoria wanted to scoff, but she had a point. The work that being with Joy got her had been the deciding factor in the relationship for her. She felt awful when she thought about it like that, but she hadn't meant to do anything to hurt her. She'd just entered into what she'd thought would be a mutually beneficial partnership. Of course, Joy meant more to her than the work. Her relationships with Joy and Melanie (especially Joy) were the best things she'd ever had. But work came a close second, and she'd done this as much for the work as she had done for…well. Anything else. She turned her eyes back to Joy, and when she saw the tears pouring down her cheeks, she reached for her again, and, this time, Joy slapped her hand away, furiously. Oh, crap. She'd really done it this time.


	13. Nothing

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Hot in Cleveland**_**.  
>Will love you forever if you read andor review.**

Victoria had thrown herself into her work (again.) She told herself it was because she was so dedicated, but really it was because it was a welcome distraction from thoughts of Joy (again.) They'd returned to Cleveland in stone cold silence, and Joy hadn't said a word to her since. In fact, she hadn't seen her at all. Victoria suspected that she was spending most of her time in her room in order to avoid her, nut she wouldn't let herself investigate. She wouldn't make a fool of herself. This was the second time she'd screwed Joy over, and the look she'd had in her eyes when she'd tried to touch her…she was obviously never going to forgive her. Victoria would only let her down again. That was what she did. She messed up and she used people and she put herself first, time and time again. And did it really matter if she was sorry or she didn't mean to hurt anyone when she knew she'd be doing it again tomorrow? She didn't think so, though she pretended not to care. And so she'd keep making commercials for toaster ovens and taking cameos in ancient televisions series and doing whatever other pathetic excuses for acting jobs she could get, because that was what she'd chosen, and it was all she had left.

Joy sat in front of the TV with Melanie, who had knocked on her door until she'd finally agreed to come out of her room and watcher another romantic comedy with her. She'd heard Victoria leave half an hour ago, so she knew the coast was clear. She'd barely been out of her room these past few days, partly because she didn't want to see Victoria and partly because she couldn't seem to summon up the energy, and she was too scared of what she might see if she looked in a mirror, but Melanie had seen her in several disgusting states over the years, and she was no longer worried about what she looked like in front of her. As they watched some badly written characters be torn apart by angst on the screen, Melanie put an arm around Joy, sensing, as only a best friend can, that she didn't want to talk about it. And Melanie really was the most wonderful friend. Joy felt a lump in her throat, followed by a rush of water welling up behind her eyes. She didn't even bother to bite back her tears, which was what she usually would have done. There was no point.


	14. The L Word

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Hot in Cleveland**_**.  
>Will love you forever if you read andor review.  
><strong>

Trying not to blink at the lights shining directly into her eyes, Victoria straightened her back enough so that she couldn't possibly be accused of slouching, but not quite enough to make herself look like she was being suspended by puppet strings. She crossed one leg over the other and folded her hands in her lap. Her agent had been right. Here she was on a nationally broadcast news programme.

As they went on air, the newscaster introduced the show and their special guest for the evening. They talked about her recent work and her move to Cleveland. Soon enough, as she'd known it would, the subject of Joy came up, and Victoria had thought she was ready for this, but she so wasn't.

"So I hear there's a new, special someone in your life, is that right?" _Not now, it isn't_. Her plastered-on smile wavered slightly, and she fought to keep it in place.

"Yes, that's right."

"And this new relationship is pretty different from the ones you've had in the past, huh?" Victoria inclined her head at this.

"Not exactly." The newscaster told the cameras that they'd seen Victoria at that movie premiere at the weekend, with a different sort of date from usual, and they played a montage of clips from the evening. The first one was of Victoria and Joy getting out of the car, arm in arm, both looking sickeningly happy. Then they cut to a shot of the two of them standing on the red carpet, with their arms holding each other's waists. It broke Victoria's heart to see herself looking adoringly at the crowds, while Joy stared at her with that same reverence. Joy and Victoria laughing, Victoria brushing Joy's hair behind her ear, Joy toppling in her heels and almost bringing Victoria down with her. She couldn't believe how beautiful Joy looked. She really was breathtaking. It caught her out every time. They closed on Joy whispering something to Victoria and Victoria grinning and pecking her on the lips. The screen froze as she pulled away and Joy beamed. An audible "Aww" rolled through the audience, and Victoria flashed them as much of a smile as she could manage, trying to work around the catch in her throat.

"So how long have you guys been together?" _Come on. You can do this. You will not cry_.

"Not long. It's a relatively new relationship. We're just seeing how it goes," she nodded, hoping that that had sounded normal.

"Right. So, would you say you were…bisexual, do you think? Or…dare I used that 'L' word…?" Victoria's heart started beating out of control, until she realised that she didn't mean _that_ "L" word. She meant like the TV show, while Victoria had been thinking like "As long as we both shall live." It was alright. She was safe. She'd prepared an answer for that one.

"Neither, really. I fell for a woman and that's all there is to it. We've been close friends for years, and since we moved to Cleveland, we've been living together with our other friend, in very close proximity to one another, and neither of us has really been able to hold down a boyfriend for a while…something like this happening isn't all that surprising, all things considered." She held her palms heavenwards, indicating that she thought it was all very normal, really, and not worth further discussion. She was half-hoping that the newscaster would think so too and move on to a new topic, but no such luck.

"Right," the news lady smiled, "So tell me about this woman. What's so special about her that it was enough to turn Victoria Chase's head?" Victoria glanced downwards, genuinely embarrassed. She wasn't good at talking about this stuff. At being…_vulnerable_. It was easy to pretend she was only interested in herself (and a lot of the time, it was true.) She could maintain her pride if she kept her walls up. It kept her safe.

"Well, you saw her, right?" she began, awkwardly, "She's beautiful. I light up when I see her. And it's on the inside, too. She's an amazing person. It's like being in high school again, when you're a gangly, spotty teenager with your first crush on the most perfect person you've ever seen. Every time I think of her my heart rate quickens and I can feel my heart twirling in my chest and my stomach fizzes and I have trouble standing, let alone walking, because that's how weak my legs get. And I want to be better, because that's the only way I could have a chance at deserving her. Because, honestly, she's the most wonderful girl in the world." With these last words, her voice got higher and higher and ever more mouselike until there was nothing she could do to stop the tears any longer because the tide was so strong.


	15. Girlfriend

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Hot in Cleveland**_**.  
>Will love you forever if you read andor review.  
><strong>  
>Melanie sat with Elka, trying to write her column but not being able to concentrate. She couldn't get over the way Joy and Victoria had been acting lately. First Joy was furious and Victoria was absent, then they were kissing in the paper, then they were fake dating, then Joy was depressed and Victoria, again, was absent. There was more than one thing that didn't add up about all this. She'd resolved to try to talk to Elka again, because she was sure there was something she wasn't telling her. She might as well do it now.<p>

"Elka, can I talk to you?"

"You already are." The old lady didn't even glance up from her newspaper.

"Right. Well, the thing is…Joy and Victoria are still acting really strangely."

"Don't you get it? They're pretending to date to get Victoria more attention." Something about the way Elka tightened her shoulders ever so slightly as she said this made Melanie suspect that she'd deliberately misunderstood.

"Yeah, Elka, I get that, I just…it's something else. They've both been being really weird for a while now."

"Don't ask me. I've always thought that there were very weird things about all three of you." While this was true enough, Melanie still felt as though she was being kept out of the loop. It was as if Elka was trying to distract her.

"Elka, do you know something about this?" she asked, in a harder voice than before. And Elka looked directly into her eyes, as she replied "Of course not."

Joy stood in the middle of the room, not knowing where to start. Her case lay open on her bed, waiting to be filled with all her worldly goods. She couldn't live like this any longer. It hurt too much. It was one thing to live in the same town as your ex; living in the same house as them was quite another. She was going back to L.A. to live the life she'd chosen all those years ago.

There was a knock at the door, and before she'd had time to answer it, it flung open, revealing Elka standing in the doorway.

"What the hell are you doing?" she demanded.

"What the hell are _you_ doing?" Joy returned, stunned to see that Elka had come anywhere near her voluntarily.

"I'm stopping you from messing everything up. Where's Victoria?" Joy flinched at the sound of her name.

"I don't know."

"Why not? Did you two have a fight or something?"

"No," she lied, "I'm not her keeper. I don't always know where she is."

"No, that's true. You're not her keeper," Elka paused, fixing Joy with an eerie glare, "You're just her girlfriend."

"No, I'm – wait, how did you – " Elka waved her arms as she cut Joy off: "Who do you think took those photos of you two in the garden?"

"That was _you_? Elka!"

"Of course it was me. When I woke up and saw you two making out on the couch, I figured there was more to it than you said. You both looked guilty and caught out. Especially you, but that's how you always look to me," Joy rolled her eyes at the slur as Elka continued, "When you went out back together and didn't come back for so long the next night, I thought maybe something else was going on, so I snuck out behind you with my camera. I thought about using the photos to humiliate you, but I remembered when Victoria got so obsessed with making that girl-on-girl sex tape for the publicity, so I figured that if these photos got leaked, it wouldn't exactly hurt her. So I sold them to the most famous tabloid I could think of, and I went along with it when Victoria said it was a publicity stunt. But now you're both acting even more crazy than usual and Melanie keeps asking me awkward questions. Did you screw up?" she pointed a finger at Joy, who blanched.

"What? No! I haven't done anything," she crossed her arms, defensively, before adding, in a much smaller voice, "It just didn't work out."

"And what's with the suitcase?" Joy shrugged. She didn't know how to explain.

"Look. Joy. We both know you're not my most favourite person. But I've never seen you _or_ Victoria act this weirdly over a guy. You look hideous, your room's a hellhole and now you're leaving? I think that would be a huge mistake. Melanie needs you. Victoria needs you. And you need them."

"Look, Elka, I'm not the one who didn't give everything she had in the relationship, I'm not that one who was more interested in her career than she was in the other person, and I'm not the one who completely stabbed that other person in the back, twice, okay? I've done everything I can, I can't help it if Victoria's not in…she isn't in…" She couldn't bring herself to say that word. All this was too hard. Tjat was why she had to leave. Instead of finishing her sentence, she broke down into sobs, and, to her complete shock, Elka pulled her into a hug. Oh dear. She must be in a sorry state if even _Elka_ felt bad enough to hug her.


	16. Love

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Hot in Cleveland**_**.  
>Thank you so much to everyone that's followed the story thus far, you've all been so lovely and supportive and you've given me the motivation to keep going.<br>Will love you forever if you read and/or review.**

As Victoria made her way out of the news studio, she caught a few strands of Barbra Streisand proclaiming, once again, that "love was only love" through one of the closed doors that lined the corridor. What were they doing watching _Hello, Dolly!_? Didn't they have any work to do?

"Don't look for shooting stars," she sand along softly, "for love is only love, and if it's love you've found, your heart won't hear a sound." She'd auditioned for a part in a stage production of that show several years ago, before she'd realised that she was far more of an actress than she was a singer. She never told anyone about that, of course. As she stepped out into the bitter wind, her cell phone started ringing. Brilliant. She really wasn't in the mood to talk to any people, except perhaps for a particularly understanding priest. She pressed the phone to her ear, telling the handset, half-heartedly, "Victoria Chase."

"It's Melanie." She sounded worried.

"What's going on?"

"I can't say…I'm not allowed." Victoria frowned at this, climbing into the back seat of the car the news company had organised for her. Had she misheard?

"You're not _what_?" 

"I'm not allowed. I know, it sounds ridiculous, but I'm not allowed. You just need to come home as quickly as possible." And then the line went dead. That was odd. Assuming she'd better go along with it, she asked the driver to quicken the pace. Fortunately, the news station was fairly local. They should be back home in about an hour. She was tempted to call Melanie back and demand to know what was going on, but she didn't, partly because she still didn't want to talk to anyone, partly because she couldn't be bothered and partly because she didn't think she'd be able to get any answers out of her. She leaned her head back on to the top of the car seat, too tired to tell herself she was having a great time doing all this work anymore. Oh, great. She knew this feeling. It was the same thing she'd felt before all this had started. Frustrated, world-weary, and entirely drained of any sort of stamina or emotion. She closed her eyes, which had become steadily heavier as the day had gone on. Ugh. What was the point in everything, again? Was there any reason to carry on existing? Because if there was, she'd lost sight of it, and as she thought of the years stretching out of her, she couldn't help feeling sick. Her chest tightened as she realised she might have given up on her reason to live on this planet. All she wanted was Joy. Just having her around, even if they were at opposite ends of the room, could dispel this feeling instantly. If Joy was there, she was happy, and that was all there was to it. And now she was crying again. She'd done a lot of that lately.

About forty minutes later, Victoria pulled open the front door and stepped over the threshold, windswept and exhausted. She was immediately concerned by the sight of Melanie and Elka on the couch, biting their nails, frowning, and, in Melanie's case, even shaking. This, on top of that crazy phone call, could not mean anything good. Both their heads shot up to face her the second they heard the door swing open. She stared at them expectantly, waiting for one of them to confess. When neither of them did, she put her hands on her hips and smiled her most menacing smile (the one that Melanie and Joy had agreed made her look like a cross between Cruella de Vil and a vampire) before asking "What's going on?" through gritted teeth, in a sickeningly sweet voice. Melanie and Elka exchanged glances, in what looked like fear. They were scared of her. Good. She could tell this wasn't going to be easy, but at least she had that to her advantage.

"What?" she hissed, impatiently. At this rate, the problem would have solved itself before she even found out what it was. Melanie and Elka looked at each other again, for what felt like a lifetime. Eventually, Melanie turned back to her, admitting, "It's Joy." Victoria clenched her teeth even harder than she already had been.

"What about Joy?" Melanie looked as if she might melt under her gaze. This was all most alarming. And it was really beginning to annoy her.

"I'm dying of old age here, Melanie."

"Tell me about it!" Elka chimed in, instantly regretting it when she saw Victoria's expression.

"She's gone," Melanie blurted, "She went back to L.A. She told us not to tell you. She said she'd call you when she got there. She tried to wrestle the phone out of my hand when she realised it was you I was calling earlier. Victoria? Wait, Victoria, where are you going?" Victoria wasn't even listening anymore. All she could hear was the sound of her world crashing about her shoulders. No. No, it couldn't be true. She would have lost everything. And as she stood, frozen in that moment, the last few lines of that _Hello, Dolly!_ song crept back into her head:

"…_Love is only love  
>Without the shooting star<br>Without the sounds of bells  
>Without the violins<br>Love is wonderful enough!_" She'd never thought she'd say it, but she was right. Barbra Streisand, she was right. Before she knew what she was doing, she was running back for the door she'd just come in through, heading out into the street.

"Victoria!" Melanie and Elka were running after her. She barely noticed.

"What are you doing?" Melanie yelled, over the rushing wind.

"I'm going after her!" Victoria screamed back, not even turning around as she hailed the first cab that came along.

"Why?" Victoria wrenched the cab door open, shouting "Because I'm in love with her, okay?" in her friend's face, before adding "Are you two coming, or not?" as she clambered into the passenger seat. Melanie and Elka hastily followed her into the cab, not prepared to miss whatever this turned out to be.

"When did she leave?"

"About ten minutes before you arrived. She was going to go before but – " 

"Skip it!" Victoria interrupted, "How is she getting to the airport?"

"Why?"

"Answer the question, Melanie!"

"She took a cab!"

"The airport, please, as fast as you can go. We're looking for another cab containing a lot of luggage and a tall, skinny brunette in tight clothing, and don't even think about asking any questions!" Victoria aimed this at the driver, who, fortunately for his own safety, complied without a word. As they raced through the streets, Victoria looked about her desperately. Nothing, nothing, nothing. No one else dared say anything. Then the car slowed, before pulling to a complete stop behind several other cars.

"Why are we stopping?" Victoria demanded.

"There's a hold up." The driver indicated the road ahead, looking terrified.

"Tell them you're driving a celebrity!" The man just shrugged. And, now she thought about it, that plan would probably have been doomed to failure anyway. She stared at the line of cars ahead of her. Typical that the on hold up in Cleveland traffic they'd ever experienced would happen now. And it was as she was thinking this that she saw it. A few cars ahead, in the trunk of another cab. A huge suitcase that she knew only too well. She strained her eyes to look past it into the car, until, finally, she saw it. A tiny sweater, wrapped around skinny shoulders, surrounded by long, wavy hair with its unique tint of brunette. She didn't think before shouting "Joy!" at the top of her voice and leaning across to slam her hand against the horn with all her might. "Joy! Joy!" she screamed and screamed and pressed the horn again and again, but it was no good. She was just a few too many cars away to be able to hear her. "Argh!" she yelled in frustration. There was nothing else for it. She threw herself against the car door, running out into the middle of the road (if she'd been listening, she would have heard Elka telling Melanie that "I think she's just deafened me forever," but she wasn't.) As she ran, one of her shoes flew off, but that fact barely even registered in her brain. She was too busy roaring Joy's name, probably damaging her vocal chords as she fought to be heard of the sound of the wind.

Eventually, when she was level with the car behind the other cab, the cab door opened, and Joy leaned out of it. She stared at Victoria with a mixture of anger and disbelief.

"I told bloody Melanie not to tell you!" Victoria ignored this, pleading with her: "Joy, don't go! You can't leave me!" But Joy only shook her head, sadly.

"You're too late. I've made up my mind. I can't live like that anymore." And she closed the door.

"Joy, please! I know you're mad at me, and so you should be. I was awful. I said I cared about you more than myself and then I only acted out of self-interest. But I won't do that anymore, I promise. I'll do anything for you. I'll even quit the business if that's what you want me to do. I don't want anything else. I don't need anything else. I don't need the shooting star or the sounds of bells or the violins. I need you. I…love you. And it's wonderful enough. It's more wonderful than anything, actually." She broke off here, descending into sobs, suddenly very aware that she was standing in the middle of the road, in the cold, with only one shoe on, shouting into the wind. For a few moments, she just stood there, taking it all in. She would understand if Joy never forgave her. She didn't deserve to be forgiven. But she couldn't walk away knowing that she hadn't done her very best to get her back. As the seconds passed, she started to think that it had all been for nothing, and that she'd have to lie in the bed she'd made. Which was only fair, of course. But then, as she wept, the cab door opened again, and this time Joy stepped all the way out of it, running past the car that stood between them and straight into Victoria's arms. And they stood there, for a while, crying and holding each other tighter than ever before, until Joy lifted her arms, locking them around Victoria's neck, and kissed her deeply. When they broke apart, she told her, "I don't want you to quit your job." Victoria felt the most genuine smile she'd given in months breaking out across her face. And after more hugging and laughing and kissing and crying, Joy fixed Victoria with an inquisitive frown.

"Did you steal those lines from _Hello, Dolly!_?"

"Of course not," Victoria scoffed, but then she ruined it by laughing, and nodded her head, ashamedly. Joy shook her head.

"That's pathetic." Victoria looked down, embarrassed.

"But I liked it," Joy added, as they both burst out laughing again, "I like everything about you…I love you." And they kissed again, for much longer this time, until the traffic started to move around them and they had to pay their cabbies and get their stuff and their friends and go home. Their home. This was their story. And it was only just beginning.


End file.
